Hummers in the back yard, Part 1

female hummingbird is interested in the feeder

Yesterday I tried getting some photos of the hummingbirds in our backyard. My motto is "take a hundred to get one." And that's just about what this one took.

I am going to be "honing" my skills in this area in the next days and weeks, because I find hummers so darn fascinating.

Stay tuned for Parts 2, 3, etc.

Till then,

take more photos!

Mike Z

Mountains of Ft. Davis Texas

Last spring Jan and I went to Ft. Davis TX partially for work and partially for a vacation. One of the things I most wanted to do while I was there was to get some really nice panorama photos of the mountains and mesas of the Ft. Davis area.

The photo above was my first attempt. If you look closely at the third mountain from the right, you can see a very tiny McDonald Observatory at the peak.

The photo above was taken on the last day of our visit. We were walking along a trail, and this view just spoke to me.

I hope you like these two panorama photos. I certainly do! As always, click on the photos to see them larger. 

Till next time,

Mike Z

Cactus Blooming

The Cactus is Blooming

We've had such spring-like weather lately that the plants and trees are all blooming like crazy. This little cactus caught my eye as I was walking out to get the mower to mow the lawn. 

I ran back in the house to get the camera, and got a couple of good shots. Minimal post processing was needed. The color of the blooms speaks for itself. As the flowers mature I'll try to post another photo or two.

Till next time,

Mike Z

The Peach Tree is Blooming!

Peach Blooms in Our Yard

The first signs of spring are all around us now. First it was the red maple tree, now it's the peach tree blooming. The weatherman said we are to expect another frost soon, but I'm hopeful it won't affect us.

Where there are blossoms you can always expect bees. There were no shortage of them around the tree, but they were shy and wouldn't get close enough or stay long enough to get a decent shot of one. I was lucky enough to get a few shots of the bee above. He found a lot of what he was after and hung around for a good while.

Spring is a wonderful time for plants and wildlife around here. I hope it stays that way for a very long time to come.

As usual to see the photos large in a slideshow, just click on one. Also if you'd like to leave a note, please Click Here to See or Sign My Guestbook. 

Till next time!

Mike Z

An Afternoon at Bluff Creek Ranch

An Afternoon at Bluff Creek Ranch

Last Saturday Jan and I drove to a friend's ranch. It's a working ranch with Longhorn Cattle and lots of pretty acreage. It also sports a very popular off-road mountain bike trail, where several bike races are held each year.

These photos are of several high-schoolers who are doing practice runs ("free-rides") in preparation for their competition tomorrow. They all looked so happy and tired at the same time! They were fun to watch.

 The photos below are my favorites of several I took of the Longhorn Cattle that populate the ranch. I always enjoy looking at these beauties, and welcoming the new-comers when I visit.

We walked around the Turkey Tank and got to see many of the riders setting up for their free-rides, or cleaning their gear afterwards. There were quite a few campsites in the area where we walked, and I think that would be half the fun of doing the races. Parents and children together spending time in nature. 

The last photo below is of the Bluff Creek Ranch's owner, Dr. Paul Nolan. He struck a very thoughtful pose as he checked in the cars for the race. He is a rancher, and a long-time biking enthusiast, as well as being a top notch pediatrician. He has been a good friend for several years, and has talked to us many times about getting a bike trail on our ranch. I hope we do it!

Well, that's all for this post. I hope you enjoy the photos. And if you're interested in mountain biking, Bluff Creek Ranch is a great place to ride!

All the best,

Mike Z

PS - click on a photo to see them larger in a slideshow.

Sunset New Braunfels TX, January 17 2016

Last evening Jan and I walked out the front door, and looked at the sunset and WOW! It was so fiery and bright and spectacular, I ran back in the house got the camera, and snapped a few quick photos. The results were pretty wonderful.

It's long been my opinion that no camera, no lens, no film, can truly capture the bright fiery beauty of a sunset or sunrise. I did some brightening of colors and contrast adjustments after taking the photo, but I didn't want to make the photo much different than what we actually saw. So no HDR, no grunge, just brightening and sharpening.

I think the photo came out more than ok. It could be a little brighter, but I don't want to do too much and mess it up. This is one that I want to get printed and framed sometime soon. It is my favorite sunset photo to date. Hope you like it.

Till next time,

Mike Z

Concan TX, Day 3, Two photos and a video

Our last day on the Frio

We spent the morning on the last day cleaning up the cabin and packing the car. We finished before check-out time, and decided to take a last "tour" of the area around River Bluff Cabins before we handed in the keys.

Frio River from the road

Above is a photo I took the day before, right at the end of the day, after we had returned from Garner State Park. 

The videographer on the river

Next is a photo that Jan took of me as I shot videos of the Frio River. 

Finally one of the videos that I shot of the river. I hope you like it.

Till the next post!

Mike Z

Concan TX, Day 2, Garner State Park

Concan TX, Day 2, Garner State Park

Field and Sky at the Visitors Center

We planned to tour Concan and Leakey TX in the morning and spend most of our day at Garner State Park, near Uvalde, TX. We got to the park a little after lunch and drove through to get the "lay of the land." Check in was easy, and we got a map of the hiking trails and bird watching blind.

Small cabin by Visitors Center, probably used for storage

We got to the bird blind, and sat for a while to see which birds might pass by. We waited what seemed like a long time (20 minutes) and saw one bird -- a sparrow. We decided it was time to hit the trail.

Sign marking the beginning of the Frio Canyon Trail

We got to the beginning of the Frio Canyon Trail, and started on the way. This trail is a hiking/biking trail, and it appeared that trucks used it too. We walked for a while and began to think we were lost.

As we started the 2 1/2 mile walk along the Frio Canyon Trail

About an hour or so into the hike, we saw a small bridge off to the right on what seemed to be a much better trail. All we were seeing on this trail were tire tracks and telephone poles. So we skipped over to this new trail, which we later learned is the Nature Trail, and started back in the direction of the Visitors Center.

Jan on the bridge of the Nature Walk Trail

When we got back to the center, I was sure that we had hiked the full 2 1/2 miles, but we weren't even close. But we did have a great time and there will be more to explore next time. So we got in the car and drove to the Frio River and Old Baldy. Old Baldy is the centerpiece mountain at the park. There are big posters of it in the gift shop, and they have every right to be proud.

Old Baldy and the Frio River, Garner State Park

We got to the park just as the sun was setting behind Old Baldy. I immediately got to work taking photos of the river, the cypress trees, the park itself -- pretty much anything that caught my eye. It was a feast for cameras! 

Frio River looking upstream from the paddle boat docks

The Frio River was true to its name -- very cold, clear and very inviting. I'm told you can make coffee with water right from the river and it tastes like ambrosia. I don't doubt it. The sounds of the water over the dam were so relaxing, I could have stayed a long while just listening.

The Frio River water is very kind to the cypress trees along the shore

I think from the photo above you can tell that the cypress trees are very tall along the banks of the Frio. Jan is standing in front of the rock just to the right of the base of the tree. It is amazing the heights these trees attain! And with the fall foliage they are truly beautiful as well.

Jan and Mike in the Hollow Cypress

While we were walking along the banks of the river, Jan noticed that one of the cypresses was hollow. So we took photos of both of us in the hollow of the tree. There was lots of "we were here" type graffiti inside the tree, but we didn't pay much attention.  

Parking area and playground, Garner State Park

The day got more and more clear as it went by, and by the time we left there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Very beautiful and so worth the trip to see this wonderful State Park. We highly recommend it!

Our last view of the Frio River as we left the park

The photo above was our parting shot of the beautiful Frio River. We would see it again at the cabins, but it was hard not to take just one more, just one more....

Hope you enjoyed the photos. And I hope you get to visit Garner State Park, if you haven't already.

All the best,

Mike Z

Our visit to the Rio Frio, and Concan TX Part 1

Our Christmas Gift to Each Other

Jan and I have loved going to Big Bend National Park, and always want to go back. But I heard from a friend in Austin about this place called Concan, TX and the Frio River. We decided to take a "mini-vacation" and go see for ourselves.

Frio River, From the Front Porch of our cabin

 We got to the River Bluff Cabins about 4:30pm. It was very rainy and overcast, but I managed to get a shot of the Rio Frio. This is looking upstream from the porch.

Our front door, Cabin 4

We got checked in with no problem, and packed all our vacation stuff into our cabin. The room was very nice. We then struck out to see the grounds.

The Rio Frio, looking downstream from our porch

The River Bluff Cabins are nestled right along the Rio Frio, and there is a large playground for the kids. There are log cabins, lodges for large parties, and "regular" cabins like the one we stayed in.

Cypress tree park, where weddings are held

We walked down the stairs to the riverside, and were enthralled with the tall cypress trees and the sounds of the rapids on the river. So relaxing! 

Rio Frio looking downstream from the park area

We got down close to the water and were amazed at how clear and clean it was. Jan said her dad used to make coffee out of river water when she was a kid. He said it was "ambrosia." I wanted to try it!

Rio Frio looking upstream from the cypress park area

We were also captivated by the size of the cypress trees in the park and along the river bank. They must be very old. The photo below shows Jan standing in front of the tallest of the trees. 

Jan beside the cypress tree

After our walk we went back to the cabin, as it was getting dark pretty fast. We were excited to begin Day 2!

I'll get Day 2 up shortly. Stay tuned.

Mike Z

Writing Spiders in the Garden

 This is the month for spiders in the garden. Sentry found over a half dozen in one area of the garden alone. 

Top view

 We agreed they were beautiful creatures.

Bottom view

I took photos of several different spiders, and I've posted the best of the lot here.

Side view

I hope you like the photos. I sure enjoyed taking them.

Till next time,

Mike Z

Ranch Windmill 2006 Revisited

I was looking at some old photos I had put in Flickr, and ran across this photo of the windmill on the ranch. I had taken it in 2006, and had not done much processing on it before I posted it up. I decided to process it again with all the newer gadgets I've acquired in the 9 years since. Nothing fancy, just enhancing some colors, etc.

This is much more like I remember the scene on the day I took the photo. Maybe the grass was a little less green, but I think it's an improvement over the shot as it came out of the camera. 

With all the rain we're having recently, I took some shots of the windmill as it is today. Maybe I'll make a new photo the topic of the next post. We'll see.

Hoping all your shots come out beautiful,

Mike Z

Can't get enough of these sunsets!

One of the truly wonderful things about this new home of ours is seeing the beautiful sunsets out in the country, away from all the "city stuff" that blocks the views of nature. I have gone to places like Big Bend National Park and Palo Duro Canyon State Park and dozens of other places, and the sunsets seem to be what I admire most when I'm there.

This photo was taken outside our house just as the sun dipped below the horizon. I had to work on it a little to bring out the grass in the foreground. Hope you like it!

Till next time,

Mike Z

Spider Web in the Sunset Light

This afternoon I was sitting in the dining room looking out the window, and noticed the sun shining on a spider's web in the side yard. It looked so cool I wanted to see if I could take a photo that did it even a little bit of justice. I grabbed my "lesser camera," the Nikon Coolpix P90, and raced outside. By the time I got there, the sun had moved a little, and the effect was a little different. I snapped a few photos, and these two worked out.

I tried very hard to enhance the fine lines of the web, without getting ridiculous with the sharpening. There was also some chromatic aberration (blue halo's around the web lines) that I had to deal with. All in all, I think the photos came out pretty well. I hope you enjoy them. As always, click on the images to see them larger.

So until next time, I hope all your photos come out beautiful.

Mike Z

New Braunfels Sunset After the Rainstorm

Sunset in New Braunfels TX from our backyard

Well, seems like we have had nothin' but rain since we moved into our new house. It makes it hard to keep the grass mowed, and also to keep the boxes dry as we unpack. One good thing however, is the beautiful sunsets that grace us frequently after the monsoon rains.

We have been very lucky to be spared the devastation that the rains and flooding have caused in the Hill Country. Over 250 houses were swept away in Wimberley, and dozens of lives were lost. Austin has had flooding much worse than the 1984 Memorial Day floods. Tornadoes have struck all around us, causing major damage in some places. We are truly lucky.

I hope you are warm and dry where you are, and that you had a blessed Memorial Day.

Til next time,

Mike Z

Well, we've moved. How 'bout that??

Jan and I signed the papers on our new home in New Braunfels today. After many months of packing, cleaning, staging, and fretting, our house in Austin sold in 17 days.

The photo above is of our new home on Jan's family ranch. I feel like a gentleman rancher, though I know virtually nothing about ranching. Jan's brother and sister-in-law really loved this place, but they moved to Nashville TN. 

John and Jennifer left us a beautiful yard and garden. I am sure they hated leaving it behind. I also have no doubt that there will be a similarly beautiful yard and garden very soon in their new place in Tennessee.

This morning we had a visitor, a vulture sunned itself on the corner post of our backyard. I was a bit concerned because of what vultures eat. I didn't see any evidence that its' meal was nearby. Maybe it was just enjoying the morning.

Ok, that's it for this one. Till next time, I hope you are doing well.

All the best,

Mike Z